Iris Scans

Iris Scans – Why and Where

If you want to use your NEXUS Card for air travel, you need an iris scan. You need an iris scan because the Global Entry kiosks in US airports will match your eyes to the iris scan on file. The kiosks are part of the US Global Entry system and are mandatory to use when using your NEXUS Card to clear customs in an airport in Canada or the US when travelling to the US.

There is no way around this requirement for NEXUS air travel: either you get an iris scan or you only use your NEXUS Card for driving across the border or crossing the border by boat. This is why iris scanners are not at all border enrolment centres.

Where you can get an iris scan

If you are attending one of the border enrolment centres, they may not have an iris scanner. This is true of some of the American enrolment centres, though at the ones closest to the border, you can often cross the border to use the Canadian office’s scanner.

Here is a list of enrolment centres without iris scanners from west to east with the alternatives